Vegan broccoli pasta is a quick 15 minutes pasta - perfect for your quick lazy dinner menu. This creamy vegan pasta is so easy to make and takes less than 15 minutes.
This quick broccoli pasta is made with minimum staple ingredients that are readily available in our pantry and no other fancy ingredients. This is a vegan version of creamy pasta. However, it's versatile to change the pasta to vegetarian as well with dairy cheese like cream cheese, parmesan cheese.
In this creamy broccoli pasta, I have used a vegan cream sauce. There are many other alternatives to this as well, like cashew cream, etc. If you love broccoli, then must read the delicious vegan broccoli recipes.
You'll love this vegan broccoli pasta, because it's-
- plant-based, vegan, nut-free
- easy to make
- few ingredients
- quick - in less than 15 minutes
- versatile- can add any sauce of choice
- easier to make the fussy eating kids eat broccoli
- can easily make this gluten-free
What'll you need:
Broccoli - 1 large head cut into bite-sized florets. Cut them into the size you desire.
Pasta - any kind of pasta works. I love to make this with spaghetti, penne, fusilli as well. Here I have taken spaghetti pasta
Flour - All-purpose flour or wheat flour. For gluten-free use gluten-free flour
Plant-based milk - Unsweetened almond milk or any plant-based milk
Garlic - Fresh garlic minced or finely chopped. Substitute - garlic powder. But fresh garlic adds strong flavor.
Onion- this is optional. You can skip this or substitute it with onion powder.
Olive oil - or vegan butter
Lemon - For lemony tangy flavor. However, this is optional too.
Salt & pepper - as per taste
Italian herbs - I love oregano in my pasta. You can add any herbs of your choice. Also, fresh parsley is a great addition.
How to make vegan broccoli pasta:-
Boil pasta - Heat water on a saucepan. Add salt generously. When it starts to boil add the pasta and let it simmer till pasta is cooked al dente. Different pasta may have different cooking times. So cook as instructed in the packet. Preserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. This is a crucial and essential step. This helps to increase the amount of sauce and adds the flavor of the pasta.
Cook broccoli - Cut out the stalks of the florets, and chop them into smaller pieces. You can cook the broccoli in two ways here, i.e. steam/ blanch the broccoli along with pasta, or saute the broccoli florets.
If cooking it with pasta, then add the florets to the pasta in the last 2 - 3 minutes. Drain out the pasta and broccoli.
Otherwise, you can also saute the broccoli for 3 - 4 minutes till it's tender. Then make the sauce and add the pasta to it.
Heat oil, add garlic, onion (optional), broccoli, and saute on medium heat for 3 minutes stirring in between.
Prepare the sauce - While the broccoli is cooked, remove them to another plate. In the same pan add 1 tbsp oil more. Add onion and garlic. Saute for a minute. Add the flour and saute for another minute.
Then add the plant-based milk gradually and stir till smooth with no lumps. Simmer for a minute or till makes Saute till a creamy texture. Now add salt as required, pepper, and oregano.
Add the broccoli and pasta - Now add the pasta and broccoli to the sauce. Add the pasta water if required and toss them.
Tip for the best vegan broccoli pasta
Any type of pasta works well in this recipe. However, the small and with curves/ folds work best to hold the sauce in case you have diced the florets really smaller. Even long spaghetti is good for this vegan broccoli pasta.
While cooking pasta, add salt generously to the water. Pasta should be cooked al dente (just cooked) and not more than that. While simmering with the sauce for a minute, it will be soft and get mushy otherwise.
Must preserve some pasta water while cooking pasta to use further while making the sauce. It will add real flavor to the sauce and make a good quantity of sauce for the pasta.
You can also make this broccoli pasta completely gluten-free by substituting regular pasta with gluten-free pasta like rice pasta and many more gluten-free options are available in the market. Also, substitute the flour with gluten-free flour. Otherwise, you can also use cashew cream to make the sauce for the pasta.
If vegetarian, can use cream cheese for the pasta sauce.
You can also make the dish completely oil-free as well. To make this oil-free, simmer the broccoli florets for 3 minutes, till it's fork-tender. To make the sauce oil-free, use a nonstick pan. Saute the garlic, onion for a minute. Or you can substitute the fresh garlic, onion with garlic powder, and onion powder. Add flour to the pan and dry roast by stirring continuously for a minute. Now add the dairy-free milk slowly gradually stirring continuously to make a smooth mixture. Rest follow the same process.
Recipe:
Vegan Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti pasta or any small pasta
- 1 ltr water to boil pasta
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced/pressed substitute - 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp chopped onion sub- 1 tsp onion powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup plant-based milk preferably unsweetened almond milk
- 3 - 4 tbsp flour/ whole wheat flour
- 1/2 - 3/4 tsp Italian herbs or oregano
- Chilli flakes optional
- 2 tbsp Nutritional yeast optional for cheesy flavor
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat water and bring it to a boil.
- Add salt to the water.
- When it starts to boil, add pasta.
- Cook the pasta as the packet instructions mentioned.
- While cooking pasta, preserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water for further use.
- Once cooked al dente, strain out using a colander.
- In a pan heat some oil.
- Add garlic, onion saute for 10 - 15 seconds.
- Then add the broccoli florets and saute for 3 - 4 minutes, till they turn tender.
- Don't overcook the broccoli as well.
- When cooked, remove the broccoli to another bowl or just push them to one side of the pan making space to saute the flour for sauce.
- If required, add a teaspoon oil on the blank side of the pan.
- Add 1.5 - 2 tbsp flour and stir continuously while sauteing the flour on low heat.
- It may take 1 - 2 minutes maximum.
- Then add plant-based milk to the flour slowly and gradually mixing it well.
- Stir continuosly making this completely lumps-free.
- Once it's lumps-free, bring it to simmer.
- Add some preserved pasta water to increase the sauce amount if you need.
- Simmer till get the creamy saucy consistency.
- Add salt (if required at all), pepper, oregano to the sauce. Also, add nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. (optional)
- Next add the broccoli florets, followed by the pasta.
- Stir them gently to mix them all well.
- Turn off heat and serve hot.
- Sprinkle some chilli flakes, parsley for seasoning. (Optional)
Video
Notes
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